For about six months now there have been whispers that Amazon was going to be producing its own tablet. Even though the company still has not confirmed this, in July the rumor mill exploded with talk of what the tablet features would be and whether or not it could compete with the iPad. According to Boy Genius Reports there will be two devices – a 7-inch tablet code-named “Coyote” and a 10-incher called “Hollywood”. Numerous sites, including the Wall Street Journal have pegged the release date for October of this year. Recently, Techcrunch published an article detailing their hands-on experience with the tablet. According to
that article, plans for the 10-inch model have been put on hold for the time being and if the 7-inch does well, they will release the 10-inch in 2012. Here’s what you can expect:

Seven Inches and a Customized Version of Android

The Wi-Fi only (possible 3G in later versions) tablets will almost certainly be running an Amazon modified version of Android; according to Techcrunch it will be a forked version of the OS previous to 2.2 (Froyo) which is a couple of versions old by now. This means that while the device will still run Android apps from Amazon’s App store it will look nothing like what we’ve come to expect from Android.

It will have 2 finger multi-touch (not as many fingers as the iPad) and there will be no camera.

The tablet is being billed as a “cloud device”, so internal storage will only be about 6GB. Most of your content therefore will not be stored on the device, but on Amazon’s servers.

There’s some question about the processor that will power the 7-inch tablet. Techcrunch “believes” it will run a single core processor but we think it might use the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core chip (the same processor used in the Motorola Xoom, T-Mobile G Slate and Samsung Galaxy Tab) We hear the 10-inch might have the Nvidia quad-core processor

In terms of how this stacks up against the iPad - well, it doesn’t really. The iPad has 32/64G of storage; it has 10 finger multi-touch, and a 1GHz dual-core chip. Frankly, it looks like the Amazon tablet isn’t even trying to go head-to-head with the iPad 2 let alone a new improved iPad 3 due out in 2012 on specs. We feel there is an entire demographic of tablet buyers that want it for casual use – browsing the web, shopping, playing a few games, reading magazines, watching movies and TV shows and most importantly, don’t want to pay $500 dollars to do so. If Amazon can get the price point right, they might be able to grab a lot of tablet sales away from Apple.

Pricing Could Be the Biggest FactorA couple months ago the rumors were that the two tablets would start at $349 and $449 respectively. Lately however, quite a few sites have been lowering their estimates to $250-$300. The reasoning behind this is fairly sound: because Amazon has such a vast array of digital and physical content, they are uniquely positioned to make their profits through the website. This means that they can leverage their content against the hardware, selling the tablet at cost or even at a loss. This is the opposite business plan to Apple, whose profit margin is quite high on their hardware. Forrester predicts that if Amazon can meet demand, they’ll sell 3-5 million tablets in Q4 alone.

Content is King and Prime Sweetens the Pot
Because it’s Amazon, content will naturally be central to their offerings. Look for Amazon’s various stores (e-books, music, video, etc.) to be well integrated and streamlined. Techcrunch also confirmed that the tablet will include its Prime service for free, for a limited, unspecified amount of time to buyers of the device. This is normally a $79 per year service that gives you free overnight shipping and unlimited streaming service.

Netflix for Books: All You Can Read
According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon is in talks with book publishers to launch a digital library for customers. In a model similar to Netflix, the service would allow users to gain unlimited access to older digital book content for one flat monthly fee. Traditionally book publishers have been reluctant to sign onto “all you can eat” pricing models, but by including only older books, it may make the idea more palatable. Apparently Amazon is also starting talks with magazine and newspaper publishers regarding terms for subscriptions and single copies of periodicals for the device.

Android Needs a Safe and Secure Apps Store
There is also the matter of Amazon’s App Store. Google’s Marketplace remains largely un-policed, with malware appearing fairly regularly. If Amazon chose to screen their apps more closely, thereby guaranteeing a safer buying experience, it could set them up as the app store of choice for Android users. While available apps for tablets on Android still lag considerably behind Apple, if this tablet sells as well as is predicted it could entice more developers to the platform.

All Consumers May Want for Christmas is an Amazon Tablet
If Amazon can pull off selling a very functional 7-inch tablet priced around $250 for the holiday season they might just have an attractive holiday gift on their hands. They have the content and the ability to distribute apps so all they need is the hardware to make it all work.

The Ipad tablet from Apple is the best there is! What a pleasent Internet experience you have... how sensitive is the screen to touch.. Quick response on typing.. Great graphic, resolution... Happy New Year ! Let 2012 be a better year with many accomplishments!

Maybe, who knows Amazon Tablet will truly take- on the iPad. Its not possible..iPad has been an influence to technology world as well as human races. It's not possible if another brand will follow. It just shows cooperation in making life to its utmost fulfillment.